If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Sielsheghlien

The most fabulous results of Deismaar's destruction are the sielsheghlien (see-SHAY-len) or 'bloodstones'. Legend has it that these gemstones, perhaps carried by warriors present at Deismaar, absorbed the essence of the expiring gods even as the god's champions did so.

Sielsheghlien appear as normal gems and do not detect as magical or unusual. However, each sielshegh holds the bloodline of a derivation based upon the type of gemstone. The bloodline of Anduiras is manifested in red rubies; Azrai in black sapphires; Basa´a in bright yellow topaz; Brenna within deep orange jacinths; Masela within blue sapphires; Reynir inside emeralds; and Vorynn's power is manifested within diamonds. No sielshegh of Masela or Reynir are known. Such gemstones, if they exist at all, may lie at the bottom of the Straits of Aerele.

Seilsheghlien appear as normal non-magical gems. If near a scion with the appropriate bloodline derivation for twenty-four hours, they attune to the scion and their effects manifest. Once attuned, a Sielshegh grants its wielder a bonus to her bloodline score.

Sielsheghlien are classified by size: emperor, prince, and knight (largest to smallest). Emperor gems range from 1 to 2 inches in size and grant their bearers a +10 enhancement bonus to their bloodline score. Prince gems range from 1/4 inch to 1 inch in size and grant a +5 enhancement bonus to bloodline score. Knight gems are tiny stones of 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch in size. Knight gems grant a +1 enhancement bonus to bloodline score.

Although the exact number of Sielsheghlien are unknown, it is believed that each derivation has no more that a handful of emperor stones, a dozen prince stones, and a few score knight stones.

The greatest of the known sielsheghlien on Cerilia is the Sielehr (SEEL-ayr), the 'Stone of Light'. It is a solid mass of uncut, unpolished topaz and is apparently the entire mass of Basa´a's sielshegh. Although rough looking on the surface, it is nearly a perfect globe of sielshegh approximately 1 foot in diameter. The Sielehr grants those scions of Basa´a who touch the gem a +100 enhancement bonus to their bloodline score. Furthermore, the gem is rumored to have any number of additional properties. It is, very possibly, the single most powerful artifact in Cerilia.

Details of this artifact are sketchy and come from verbal accounts over 1,500 years old and an ancient, fading tapestry in a tiny temple to Avani in the Khinasidomain of Djafra. The tapestry has an image showing Mount Deismaar exploding and throwing a yellow rock high into the sky. The second image renders a Basarji warrior finding the rock in a desert; the warrior and the rock both glow. The third image depicts the warrior blasting an army apart with beams of fire from his hand. The final depiction is that of the glowing orb on the deck of a Basarji ship heading east.

Oral tradition among the Khinasi identifies the warrior as Aram ibn Makik. With the bloodstone's aid, Aram and his followers (the Holy Thirty) were able to slay the entire army of the great oppressor Omar al-Sami in lands now claimed by Zikala. When others tried to claim the Sielehr from Aram, he and the Holy Thirty fled and took a ship to parts unknown. The exact location of the Stone of Light is unknown, but it is considered the holiest artifact of Avani's faithful. It is commonly believed that Aram's descendants protect the Stone of the Sun to this day in a remote and impregnable monastery known as Basa´a's Seat.